U.S. Olympic teams

Men and women counting on experience

U.S. captain Meghan Duggan and star forward Hilary Knight are among six players with two Olympic silver medals named to the women’s team that will compete in Pyeongchang in February.

Kacey Bellamy, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Gigi Marvin are the other players who were also on Olympic teams for Sochi and Vancouver. The women’s 23-player roster was announced Monday during the Winter Classic along with rosters for the men’s hockey team and sled hockey team.

The women have been in residency in Wesley Chapel, Fla., since September. Forward Alex Carpenter and defenseman Megan Bozek were the last two players cut from the team before Christmas, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

The team includes 13 first-time Olympians, including five college players who will put their eligibility on hold. At 18, Cayla Barnes is the youngest player on the team. The defenseman is joined by Boston College teammates Kali Flanagan and Megan Keller. Forward Kelly Pannek from the University of Minnesota and goalie Maddie Rooney from the University of Minnesota-Duluth will also make Olympic debuts.

Despite the college contingent, the team is built around an experienced core. Eight players have played in more than 100 international games with the national team.

Beating Canada for Olympic gold has been the team’s focus since a disappointing 3-2 overtime loss in the final in 2014. Canada has won the the last four Olympic tournaments, although the USA has won three consecutive world championships since the Sochi Games.

Players say their team is even closer after a highly publicized battle with USA Hockey last year over equitable pay and benefits. The team threatened to boycott the world championships at the end of March before negotiating a four-year deal that increased financial support.

“What we were able to accomplish this past spring with the whole equitable sport battle, it just speaks volumes about the character that we have in that room,” Knight said in September. “You can do as many team building (exercises) as you want and try to build chemistry, but that was something that we all lived together.”

The U.S. women open Olympic play Feb. 11 against Finland.